Paul Roos sounding a lot like Mark Neeld

Daniel Cherny

Here's your task - determine which year this state of affairs is referring to: On the final weekend in March, a Melbourne coach lost his first MCG game in charge in disappointing fashion.

The Demons were overwhelmed by the clearance dominance of an opponent looking to rebound off a lacklustre season.

The coach was quick to distance himself from his struggling troops. He indicated that not much longer would he stand for incompetence in the ranks, accountability for performance was imperative, and change in playing personnel was likely.

The coach was then criticised for his outburst by a cynical former St Kilda coach.

''You're seeing them under the heat, and you're seeing what they can and can't do. There's some non-negotiables in footy. That's just the reality of what the game is. If you can't do them, you can't play.

''Some of the stuff today … guys missing chest marks - I haven't seen that before, so it's an eye-opener for me. Some of the errors were just incredible.

''At some point you've got to draw a line in the sand and say, 'These are the guys we're going to pick'.''

And, of course, the metronomical voice of condemnation is Grant Thomas, who on Monday denounced Roos' comments.

But wait, we have someone contesting the quiz answer. What was that? 2012?

Something about the Brisbane Lions beating Melbourne? Mark Neeld?

Oh, well that answer is also correct.

The coach's comments on that occasion followed a similar theme. ''Will the same 22 travel to Perth [for next week's game]? Not on your life,'' Neeld said.

''Am I going to go down a similar road and continue to put blind faith in players? No way. Absolutely, no way. This industry, it’s accountable. I’m accountable. So I should be. So are these blokes."

Thomas weighed in then as well.

''I was very surprised by it. I thought it was very early to distance himself from the playing group,'' he said. ''He laid the blame squarely at the playing group. It was a very surprising outburst. He should involve himself more in it and take more responsibility for the performance.''

There are expectations that Roos will turn things around at Melbourne.

But there were expectations on Neeld, too.

There is one crucial difference though: Roos has the runs on the board from his time at Sydney. Neeld was untested in a senior position.

Neeld soon lost the support of his playing group, and within a season and a half his job was well past the point of being untenable.

It is far too early to suggest that the same situation applies with Roos. But this is not a promising start.

Roos has been strangely non-committal to the Demons, looking ahead from the outset to a coaching handover in two or three years. It is hardly awe-inspiring.

Does he really want to be there? And how long will the players cop public flak like that before they too lose faith in their messiah?

Paul Roos could still be the next Norm Smith. But at the moment he's looking and sounding a lot more like Mark Neeld.